I'm a happy go lucky girl living in the Land of Enchantment. I enjoy anything artsy - from painting clothes pins to rubber stamping to mixed media messiness. My nickname in high school was "Doodle." Was that a sign of things to come?

Sunday, October 30, 2011

I thought I'd be able to post this mid-week but life got in the way. I've been busy knitting, making cards and building flowers out of buttons. I'm in an arts and crafts fair Saturday, November 5. If you're local it will be at the Crossroads Church (right next to East Park Pool). Three of my friends will also be selling and we've asked for booths next to eachother. It'll be a great day amongst other crafty people.

My cards are basic with very little fancy embellishments. I've seen some cards that I just wonder how they fit into an envelope and go through the mail. If you have hints on this please share!

Add to the mix my colorful clothes pins. I just love these things. I was playing with them last night and was just smiling away.

I've decided that I really love the dish/face cloths knitted in seed stitch. I'm using size 8 needles so they are a little tighter than the ones that I knitted in garter stitch using size 9 needles. I'm planning to sell the seed stitch cloths in sets of three and the garter stitch ones individually. I wonder which ones will be more popular?!?

The button bouquets are coming together nicely. I've sold these in the past and everyone is drawn to the bright colors. I hope they are a hit this year. They add just the right touch of whimsy to a room.

﻿

Button bouquets in progress.

﻿My planned display may not work. I need to find a way to weigh down the stands (you can see the stand in the clothes pins photo) so they don't tip over. I set up the cards on the stand today and it looked great so would really like to use them. I may just buy some bags of beans and quickly stitch up some oblong strips to put on the bottom. Or I might just buy a small board and spray paint it turquoise and nail it in when I set up the morning of the fair.

Luckily I'm off tomorrow so will experiment a bit.

Thanks for stopping by. I really do appreciate you giving this new blogger a chance to succeed!!!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

in San Francisco. It is one of my favorite cities and was one of the stops on my recent vacation. I can't pinpoint what exactly it is about this place, but I just love it.

Union Square

No visit is complete without a ride on a cable car!

We made our way through Chinatown, walking up and down several streets before finally finding the entrance. I bought a mandarin newspaper and was told by the vender "Why, you can't read it." to which I replied "I know. What is the headline?" Which she responded that she couldn't read it either! hee hee I think the lettering is just beautiful and wanted it for my mixed media collection. And no, I haven't even dipped my big toe into the mixed media world.......

Great street art.

Orange tree on the balcony.

Love the colors!

I've been busy this weekend getting ready for the Arts and Crafts Fair that I'll be in November 5. I have some knitted face/dish cloths, cowls and a few scarves using sock yarn. I started making the button bouquets this past week. I'm hoping to have the house in order (ahem, picked up from crafting supplies) by the middle of next week.

I'll take some photos of my progress and post them around the middle of the week.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed my first installment of photos from San Francisco. There's more to come!!!

Yep, this is me. I'm at Rancho de Chimayo having lunch with my dad and his girlfriend. This restaurant is real close to the El Santuario de Chimayo, which I wrote about on my first "Where I Live" post. Notice the hay in the adobe walls? The red things at the top of the photo are chili ristras. I have better photos for another time.

Do you see what I see? Could it be? At least it's a crossing sign and not a REAL alien!!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

During my vacation my friend and I wandered around Manhattan Beach. I spotted this great photo op - take a look: did you ever watch that show "Pimp My Ride"? Well, this bicycle kind of reminded me of that show.

Love the leis and coconut head!

Then we turn around to see this. Dreams we didn't even know we had were answered.

I've heard of the show Cupcake Wars on the Food Network but have never watched it. We HAD to go inside to see what this is all about. The name of the store is Cupcakes Couture of Manhattan Beach.

This photo doesn't do the cupcakes justice. I had the one that looks like it has a blue wave. Coconut flavoring (didn't realize I was keeping a theme until just now).

That bicycle is better than a neon sign. Definitely a great marketing device. Both of us enjoyed our little bite of heaven!

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Have I mentioned that I love painting clothes pins? I get such a giddy feeling over something so simple! I love experimenting with the colors; some of the color combinations really pop and some just fall flat. Which are your favorite?

It's pretty simple and would be a great project to do with the kids. I paint the clothes pins in the primary color twice so that it really gets saturated.

Next I make the larger spots using the eraser tip of a pencil. They come out slightly different depending on the angle of the pencil and how much paint is on the eraser. To make the smaller circle I sharpen the pencil down a bit and then break the lead tip off. Again, it depends on the amount of paint and the angle that determines the dots.

I love giving these as little gifts. I attach magnets to some so they can hold a photo or card onto the refrigerator.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Hi everyone. I was on vacation - taking a cruise along the California coast. It was absolutely wonderful. Stops in Santa Barbara, San Diego, San Francisco and then Ensenada, Mexico. Below are a few of the photos that I took. I hope you enjoy just a sneak of what I've been up to. We flew into Los Angeles and had an afternoon to waste away before the cruise started.

The adventure starts!

We took a trolley to Manhattan Beach. What a fun afternoon.

Burger and fries for lunch at Brewco Manhattan Beach.

A cool little restaurant/pub.

Check out my burger and sweet potato fries. Yum!!

This is a photo of the ceiling.

The pier. A little bit overcast but still beautiful.

Our tour guide.

Hitting the waves.

I found a very special place in Manhattan Beach. Does anyone like cupcakes?!? Stay tuned for my next post.